2 Samuel 8 - 9, 1 Chronicles 18, 2 Peter 3, Proverbs 29

David Strikes Down Nations

8^aNow it happened afterwards, that David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took ¹control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

²^aHe also struck ^bMoab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And ^cthe Moabites became servants to David, ^dbringing tribute.

³Then David struck ^aHadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as ^bhe went to restore his ¹power at the ²River. ⁴And David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David ^ahamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for 100 chariots. ⁵Then ^athe Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah. And David struck down 22,000 Arameans. ⁶Then David placed garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus; and ^athe Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And ^bYahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went. ⁷And David took the small shields of gold which were ¹carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸Also from ¹Betah and from ^aBerothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze.

⁹Then Toi king of ^aHamath heard that David had struck down all the military force of Hadadezer, ¹⁰so Toi sent ¹Joram his son to King David to ²greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him down; for Hadadezer ³had been at war with Toi. And in ⁴Joram’s hand were articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. ¹¹King David also ^aset these apart as holy to Yahweh, with the silver and the gold that he had set apart as holy from all the nations which he had subdued: ¹²from ¹Aram, ^aMoab, ^bthe sons of Ammon, ^cthe Philistines, ^dAmalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³So ^aDavid made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 ¹Arameans in ^bthe Valley of Salt. ¹⁴Then he placed garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he placed garrisons, and ^aall the Edomites became servants to David. And ^bYahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went.

¹⁵So David reigned over all Israel; and David was doing justice and righteousness for all his people. ¹⁶^aNow Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and ^bJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was ^crecorder; ¹⁷^aand Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were ^bpriests, and Seraiah was ^cscribe; ¹⁸^aand Benaiah the son of Jehoiada ¹was over the ^bCherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were ²^,^cpriests.

David’s Lovingkindness to Mephibosheth

9Then David said, “Is there yet ¹anyone left of the house of Saul, ^athat I may show him lovingkindness for Jonathan’s sake?” ²Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, “Are you ^aZiba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” ³And the king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the ^alovingkindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “^bThere is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.” ⁴So the king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is ^ain the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.” ⁵Then King David sent and took him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo-debar. ⁶^aSo Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, came to David and ^bfell on his face and prostrated himself. And David said, “Mephibosheth.” And he said, “Here is your servant!” ⁷And David said to him, “Do not fear, for ^aI will surely show lovingkindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and ^bwill restore to you all the ¹land of your ²grandfather Saul; and ^cyou shall ³eat at my table continually.” ⁸So he prostrated himself and said, “What is your servant, that you should regard ^aa dead dog like me?”

⁹Then the king called Saul’s young man Ziba and said to him, “^aAll that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s ¹grandson. ¹⁰“And you and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master’s grandson may have food and eat of it; nevertheless ^aMephibosheth your master’s grandson ^bshall ¹eat at my table continually.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. ¹¹Then Ziba said to the king, “According ^ato all that my lord the king commands his servant so your servant will do.” So Mephibosheth ate at ¹David’s table as one of the king’s sons. ¹²Now Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. ¹³So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for ^ahe ate at the king’s table continually. Now ^bhe was lame in both feet.

David Strikes Down Nations

18Now ^ait happened afterwards, that David struck the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. ²He also struck Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.

³Then David struck Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to set up his ¹power at the Euphrates River. ⁴And David captured from him 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers, and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough of them for 100 chariots.

⁵Then the Arameans of ¹Damascus came to help Hadadezer king ^aof Zobah. And David struck down 22,000 men of the Arameans. ⁶Then David placed garrisons among the Arameans of ¹Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And Yahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went. ⁷And David took the small shields of gold which were ¹carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸Also from ¹Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which ^aSolomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.

⁹Then ¹Tou king of Hamath heard that David had struck down all the military force of Hadadezer king of Zobah, ¹⁰so he sent ¹Hadoram his son to King David to ²greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him down; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. ¹¹King David also set these apart as holy to Yahweh with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.

¹²Moreover, Abishai the son of Zeruiah ¹smote 18,000 of Edom in the Valley of Salt. ¹³Then he placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And Yahweh granted salvation to David wherever he went.

¹⁴So David reigned over all Israel; and he was doing justice and righteousness for all his people. ¹⁵^aNow Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ¹⁶and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was scribe; ¹⁷and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.

The Day of the Lord Will Come

3This is now, ^abeloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am ^bstirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ²that you should ^aremember the words spoken beforehand by ^bthe holy prophets and ^cthe commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles, ³^aknowing this first of all, that ^bin the last days ^cmockers will come with their mocking, ^dfollowing after their own lusts, ⁴and saying, “^aWhere is the promise of His ^bcoming? For since the fathers ^cfell asleep, all continues just as it was ^dfrom the beginning of creation.” ⁵For ¹when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that ^aby the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was ^bformed out of water and by water, ⁶through which ^athe world at that time was ^bdestroyed, being deluged with water. ⁷But by His word ^athe present heavens and earth are being reserved for ^bfire, being kept for ^cthe day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁸But do not let this one fact escape your notice, ^abeloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and ^ba thousand years like one day. ⁹^aThe Lord is not slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but ^bis patient toward you, ^cnot willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. ¹⁰But ^athe day of the Lord ^bwill come like a thief, in which ^cthe heavens ^dwill pass away with a roar and the ^eelements will be destroyed with intense heat, and ^fthe earth and ¹its works will be ²found out.

¹¹Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹²^alooking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which ^bthe heavens burning will be destroyed, and the ^celements will melt with intense heat! ¹³But according to His ^apromise we are looking for ^bnew heavens and a new earth, ^cin which righteousness dwells.

Be on Your Guard

¹⁴^aTherefore, ^bbeloved, since you are looking for these things, be diligent to be ^cfound by Him in peace, ^dspotless and blameless, ¹⁵and consider the ^apatience of our Lord as salvation, just as also ^bour beloved brother Paul, ^caccording to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, ¹⁶as also in all his letters, speaking in them of ^athese things, ^bin which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and ^cunstable distort, as they do also ^dthe rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷You therefore, ^abeloved, knowing this beforehand, ^bbe on your guard lest you, having been carried away by ^cthe error of ^dunprincipled men, ^efall from your own steadfastness, ¹⁸but grow in the grace and ^aknowledge of our ^bLord and Savior Jesus Christ. ^cTo Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

29A man who hardens his neck after ^amuch reproofWill ^bsuddenly be broken ¹beyond healing.²When the ^arighteous ¹increase, the people are glad,But when a wicked man rules, people groan.³A man who ^aloves wisdom makes his father glad,But he who ^bbefriends harlots destroys his wealth.⁴By justice the ^aking causes the land to stand,But a man of bribes tears it down.⁵A man who ^aflatters his neighborIs spreading a net for his steps.⁶By transgression an evil man is ^aensnared,But the righteous ^bsings with joy and is glad.⁷The ^arighteous knows the cause of the poor,The wicked does not understand that knowledge.⁸Scoffers ¹^,^aset a city aflame,But ^bwise men turn away anger.⁹When a wise man is brought into judgment with a man who is an ignorant fool,¹The ignorant fool both rages and laughs, and there is no rest.¹⁰Men of ^abloodshed hate the blameless,But the upright seek the well-being of his soul.¹¹A ^afool ¹lets out all of his spirit,But a ^bwise man holds it back.¹²If a ^aruler pays attention to a lying word,All his ministers become wicked.¹³The ^apoor man and the oppressor meet together in this—Yahweh gives ^blight to the eyes of both.¹⁴If a ^aking judges the poor with truth,His ^bthrone will be established forever.¹⁵The ^arod and reproof give wisdom,But a child ¹left to himself ^bbrings shame to his mother.¹⁶When the wicked ¹increase, transgression increases;But the ^arighteous will see their fall.¹⁷^aDiscipline your son, and he will give you rest;And he will ^bgive delight to your soul.¹⁸Where there is ^ano ¹vision, the people ^bare out of control,But how ^cblessed is he who keeps the law.¹⁹A slave will not be corrected by words alone;For though he understands, there will be no answer.²⁰Do you behold a man who is ^ahasty in his words?There is ^bmore hope for a fool than for him.²¹He who pampers his slave from childhoodWill in the end find him to be ¹arrogant.²²An ^aangry man stirs up strife,And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.²³A man’s ^alofty pride will bring him low,But a ^blowly spirit will take hold of glory.²⁴He who ¹divides the spoil with a thief hates his own soul;He ^ahears the oath but declares nothing.²⁵^aTrembling before man ¹brings a snare,But he who ^btrusts in Yahweh will be set securely on high.²⁶^aMany seek the face of a ruler,But ^bjustice for man comes from Yahweh.²⁷An ^aunjust man is an abomination to the righteous,And he who is ^bupright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.